ReadingAWhySchoolsShouldNotTeachGeneralCritical-thinkingSkillsReadingABeinganair-trafficcontrollerisnoteasy.Attheheartofthejobisacognitiveabilitycalled"situationalawareness"thatinvolves“thecontinuousextractionofenvironmentalinformationandtheintegrationofthisinformationwithpriorknowledgetoformacoherentmentalpicture".Vastamountsoffluidinformationmustbeheldinthemindand,underextremepressure,life-or-deathdecisionsaremadeacrossrotating24-hourworkschedules.Sostressfulandmentallydemandingisthejobthat,inmostcountries,air-trafficcontrollersareeligibleforearlyretirement.IntheUnitedStates,theymustretireat56withoutexception.1ReadingAInthe1960s,aninterestingseriesofexperimentswasdoneonair-trafficcontrollers’mentalcapacities.Researcherswantedtoexploreiftheyhadageneralenhancedabilityto“keeptrackofanumberofthingsatonce”andwhetherthatskillcouldbeappliedtoothersituations.Afterobservingthemattheirwork,researchersgavetheair-trafficcontrollersasetofgenericmemory-basedtaskswithshapesandcolours.Theextraordinarythingwasthatwhentestedontheseskillsoutsidetheirownareaofexpertisetheair-trafficcontrollersdidnobetterthananyoneelse.Theirremarkablysophisticatedcognitiveabilitiesdidnottranslatebeyondtheirprofessionalarea.2ReadingASincetheearly1980s,however,schoolshavebecomeevermorecaptivatedbytheideathatstudentsmustlearnasetofgeneralisedthinkingskillstoflourishinthecontemporaryworld—andespeciallyinthecontemporaryjobmarket.Variouslycalled“21st-centurylearningskills”or“criticalthinking”,theaimistoequipstudentswithasetofgeneralproblem-solvingapproachesthatcanbeappliedtoanygivendomain;thesearelaudedbybusinessleadersasanessentialsetofdispositionsforthe21stcentury.Naturally,wewantchildrenandgraduatestohaveasetofall-purposecognitivetoolstonavigatetheirwaythroughtheworld.It’sashame,then,thatwe’vefailedtoapplyanycriticalthinkingtothequestionofwhetheranysuchthingcanbetaught.3ReadingAAsthe1960sstudiesonair-trafficcontrollerssuggested,tobegoodinaspecificdomain,youneedtoknowalotaboutitandit’snoteasytotranslatethoseskillstootherareas.Thisisevenmoresowiththekindsofcomplexandspecialisedknowledgethataccompaniesmuchprofessionalexpertise:aslatestudiesfound,themorecomplexthedomain,themoreimportantdomain-specificknowledge.Thisnon-translatabilityofcognitiveskilliswell-establishedinpsychologicalresearchandhasbeenreplicatedmanytimes.4ReadingAOtherstudies,forexample,haveshownthattheabilitytorememberlongstringsofdigitsdoesn’ttransfertotheabilitytorememberlongstringsofletters.Surelywe’renotsurprisedtohearthis,forweallknowpeoplewhoare“clever”intheirprofessionallivesoftenseemtomakestupiddecisionsintheirpersonallives.ReadingAInalmosteveryarena,thehighertheskilllevel,themorespecifictheexpertiseislikelytobecome.Inafootballteam,forexample,therearedifferent“domains”orpositions:goalkeeper,defender,attacker.Withinthose,therearefurthercategories:centre-back,full.back,attackingmidfielder,holdingmidfielder,attackingplayer.Itmightbefineforabunchofamateursplayingafriendlygametomovepositions,butataprofessionallevelifyouputaleft-backinastriker’spositionoracentralmidfielderingoaltheplayerswouldbelost.Forthemtomakeexcellent,split-seconddecisionsandtoenactrobustandeffectivestrategiestheyneedthousandsofspecificmentalmodels—andthousandsofhoursofpracticetocreatethosemodels—allofwhicharespecificandexclusivetoaposition.5ReadingAOfcourse,criticalthinkingisanessentialpartofastudent’smentalequipment.However,itcannotbedetachedfromcontext.Teachingstudentsgeneric“thinkingskills”separatefromtherestoftheircurriculumismeaninglessandineffective.AstheAmericaneducationalistDanielWillinghamputsit:6ReadingA[I]fyouremindastudentto“l(fā)ookatanissuefrommultipleperspectives”oftenenough,hewilllearnthatheoughttodoso,butifhedoesn’tknowmuchaboutanissuehecan’tthinkaboutitfrommultipleperspectives….[C]riticalthinking(aswellasscientificthinkingandotherdomain-basedthinking)isnotaskill.Thereisnotasetofcriticalthinkingskillsthatcanbeacquiredanddeployedregardlessofcontext.ReadingAThisdetachmentofcognitiveidealsfromcontextualknowledgeisnotconfinedtothelearningofcriticalthinking.Someschoolslaudthemselvesforplacing“21st.centurylearningskills”attheheartoftheirmission.It’sevenbeensuggestedthatsomeofthesenebulousskillsarenowasimportantasliteracyandshouldbeaffordedthesamestatus.Anexampleofthisisbrain-traininggamesthatclaimtohelpkidsbecomesmarter,morealertandabletolearnfaster.However,recentresearchhasshownthatbrain-traininggamesarereallyonlygoodforonething—gettinggoodatbrain-traininggames.Theclaimthattheyofferstudentsageneralsetofproblem-solvingskillswasrecentlydebunkedbyastudythatreviewedmorethan130papers,whichconcluded:7ReadingA[W]eknowofnoevidenceforbroad-basedimprovementincognition,academicachievement,professionalperformance,and/orsocialcompetenciesthatderivesfromdecontextualisedpracticeofcognitiveskillsdevoidofdomain-specificcontent.ReadingAThesamegoesforteaching“dispositions”suchasthe“growthmindset”(focusingonwillandeffortasopposedtoinherenttalent)or“grit”(determinationinthefaceofobstacles).It’snotclearthatthesedispositionscanbetaught,andthere’snoevidencethatteachingthemoutsideaspecificsubjectmatterhasanyeffect.8ReadingAInsteadofteachinggenericcritical-thinkingskills,weoughttofocusonsubject-specificcritical-thinkingskillsthatseektobroadenastudent’sindividualsubjectknowledgeandunlocktheunique,intricatemysteriesofeachsubject.Forexample,ifastudentofliteratureknowsthatMaryShelley’smotherdiedshortlyafterMarywasbornandthatShelleyherselflostanumberofchildrenininfancy,thatstudent’sappreciationofVictorFrankenstein’sobsessionwithcreatinglifefromdeathandthelanguageusedtodescribeitismoreenhancedthanapproachingthetextwithoutthisknowledge.9ReadingAAphysicsstudentinvestigatingwhytwoplanesbehavedifferentlyinflightmightknowhowto“thinkcritically”throughthescientificmethodbut,withoutsolidknowledgeofcontingentfactorssuchasoutsideairtemperatureandabankofpreviouscasestudiestodrawupon,thestudentwillstruggletoknowwhichhypothesistofocusonandwhichvariablestodiscount.10ReadingAWillinghamwrites:“Thoughtprocessesareintertwinedwithwhatisbeingthoughtabout.”Studentsneedtobegivenrealandsignificantthingsfromtheworldtothinkwithandabout,ifteacherswanttoinfluencehowtheydothatthinking.ReadingB21stCenturySkills:TheFutureforStudents’AcademicandCareerSuccessInthe21stcentury,peopleexplore,experience,andunderstandtheworldaroundtheminmanynewanddifferentways.Learningandeducationisnoexceptionwithtechnologyprovidingaccesstovirtuallyanyinformationatthetouchofascreen.Withaccesstoallofthisinformation,itwouldseemthatnewergenerationswouldbepushingtheenvelopeonwhatisconsideredtobeintellectuallycompetent.However,despiteendlessaccesstoinformation,studentsandearly-careerprofessionalsarefallingshort.1ReadingBManyemployershavefoundthattheyoungergenerationofapplicantsarelackingkeyskills,suchascriticalthinking,problemsolving,andcommunication,thuscausingwhatmanypeoplecallaskillsgap.Studiessuggestthatthisgapinhigher-orderthinkingskillsisgrowing.Luckily,leadingeducationalcompaniesaretacklingthisgrowingskillsgapbyaddressingeducationalstrategiestohelpstudentsdevelopsharper21stcenturyskills.Addressingthebenefitsof21stcenturyskills,however,isoneoftheeasiestplacestobegin.ReadingBSo,whatseparatesindividualswithstrong21stcenturyskillsfromindividualscompetingwithouttheseskills?Mostemployersarequicktosayvalue.Theypossesstheabilitytolearnquickly,processinformationaccurately,anduseinformationindecision-making.Soundseasyenough,right?Well,notexactly.Likeeveryothermuscleinthebody,theonlywaytodevelop21stcenturyskillsistoexercisethemeveryday.Otherstudiesshowpeoplewithwell-foundedcriticalthinking,problem-solving,andcommunicationskillsarefarmorelikelytoholdadministrativepositionsandaremorelikelytobepromoted.2ReadingBManyemployersalsomentionedthattheyaremoreinterestedintheirapplicants’levelofcriticalthinking,ratherthantheireducationalbackground.Additionally,companiesthathaveemployeeswhodemonstratestrong21stcenturyskillssavetimeandmoneythroughbetterdecisionmaking,planning,andimplementationoftheirteams.This,incombinationwiththegrowingskillsgapmentionedearlier,hasputthesearchforindividualswiththeseskillsattheforefrontofbusiness’sendeavors.ReadingBThegrowingdemandforandimportanceoftheseskillsfromemployershasbroughteducatorsofalllevelsintothecenterofthesolutionprocesstothisgrowingskillsgap,thoughthereisagreaterfocusinpost-secondaryeducation.Theeducationsystem’sabilitytodevelopandrespondtothisgrowingneedofskillsiscentraltotheintegrityoftheeducationsystemremainingthecenterforjobreadinessforfuturegenerationsofworkers.Thishasledtoarestructuringofeducationalcurricula,teaching,andtesttaking,thoughthishasyettobeaunanimousprocess.3ReadingBExamplesofthesechangesincludebettercurriculatosupportabstractknowledgeonsubjects,teachingthatfocusesonproblem-basedlearning,andtestingthatcanmeasurestudents’progressionintotheirveryown21stcenturyskillsmindset.However,theprocessofteachingskillssuchasself-direction,collaboration,andcreativityisnotastraightforward,orfullyunderstood,process.Nonetheless,studentswiththeseskillsarehighlysoughtafterbyemployersandcorrelationalstudiesthatsupportthisshowsomepredictabilitybetweenstudentswiththeseskillsandtheirGPAandjobperformance.ReadingBAdditionally,thereisagrowingappreciationforstudentswithliberalartsdegreesduetothisneedfor21stcenturyskills.Oneofthegreatestdifferencesthesedegreeshavefromothernon-liberalartsdegreesisthatstudentswithliberalartsdegreesaremorelikelytoreportthattheirdegreehelpedthemintheircareerandstudentswiththesedegreesaremorelikelytoholdhigherpositionsandmakemoremoney.Thishasbeenattributedtoliberalartsdegrees’focusoncriticalthinkingandclearcommunication.Also,thesedegreeshavebeenacclaimedforencouragingstudentstothink“outsidethebox”inacriticalway.4ReadingBHowever,noeducationsystemisperfectanditisnottosaythattheeducationsystemissinglyresponsibleforthedevelopmentofthesecritical21stcenturyskills.Studentsthemselvesareinthecenterofthesolutionprocessofgaininganddevelopingtheseskills,whichwillnotonlyimprovetheirsuccessintheirstudies,butalsointheirfuturecareers.Thisisalsoimportantwhentakingintoaccountthatsomestudents,despitethegrowingeffortsandknowledge